SELECTMAN URGES CANTON TO HIRE NEW POLICE DOG

A selectman is recommending that the town consider hiring a new police dog.

In a letter this week to the other members of the board, Selectman Lou Daniels said he believes the time is right to re-establish the unit, which was cut during a tight budget year.

"While I believe our decision of a few years ago was the right decision for the time, I believe some things have changed and the pertinent issues can be addressed satisfactorily," he wrote.

Daniels said he got the idea to resurrect the canine unit while at a recent meeting of the Avon/Canton Rotary club. Officer Donald Hull, who was the handler for the town's first police dog, was there talking about regional crime prevention efforts.

Officer Blue, the town's first police dog, was forced into retirement in 1994 after six years on the force because of budget cuts. In an effort to reduce the budget, the selectmen eliminated the $500 a year paid to Hull for Blue's care and feeding.

Another factor in Blue's retirement was a federal law passed that year that requires towns to pay overtime to police officers for the time spent caring for a police dog. Town officials estimated that they would have had to give Hull 18 compensation days each year to offset the time he spent feeding, walking and grooming Blue.

Daniels said several civic organizations have already pledged funds to get the program started and local businesses have offered to provide free veterinary and grooming services for a police dog.

Further, Daniels said, he has re-examined the federal law and believes that it is much more flexible than originally thought. Daniels said his review of the law has led him to believe that the town could place a cap on the amount of compensation time given to the dog's handler. The town could also, by mutual agreement, pay the handler minimum wage for the time spent caring for the dog.

Daniels said some of the expense of the dog could also be subsidized with money seized from drug dealers. "If our dog is used by another town then it should be made clear that Canton will receive a share of the forfeiture," Daniels said. "Could this be a money- making proposition? It just might."

Selectwoman Mary Tomolonius said she will not form an opinion on the proposal until she has had an opportunity to review all of the costs involved in such a program.

Tomolonius said she is also concerned that the funding from the civic organizations may just be seed money to get the program started and the ongoing costs would have to be carried by the town.

"While civic organizations historically give seed money, it is not their intent or purpose to fund something that is essentially a town service," she said.

During his time on the police force, Officer Blue was credited with finding four lost children, tracking dozens of suspects and assisting in the arrest of 15 felony suspects and nearly three dozen other criminals. In all, he responded to more than 200 calls in 13 towns during his career.

If the selectmen agree to the proposal, a new dog would have to be found and trained for the job. Officer Blue died in September after suffering a stroke.